I remember old St Helens

I often look back through the years

To a town centre smelling of hops

When Greenall’s were brewing their beer.

 

To Lionel Swift and Pimbletts

Making pies to feed a nation

In town the home of Beechams Pills

For relieving constipation

 

Within the throng of workers

Black faces could be seen

From Ravenhead and Bold

Sutton Manor or Lea Green

 

Though industries spread throughout the town

One stood out with class

It had the name of Pilkington

World leader making glass

 

St Helens was well known

World famous for it’s glass

UG, Rockware and the rest

One by one I’ve seen them pass

 

Workers in their thousands

Would be seen without a fuss

Riding home from work on bikes

Or on a trolley bus.

 

When dads and sons went off to war

To keep the home fires burning

Wives and mothers worked at Pilks

To keep wheels a turning.

 

People didn’t have much money

But what they had was pride.

If you went round a calling

They would welcome you inside.

 

The local shops were thriving

The Co-op is where they’d spend

Then queue up every quarter

To collect their dividend.

 

When I was very small

Awakened from my slumber

The first thing I was taught

Was my Mother’s ‘divi’ number

 

I remember many cinemas

Like the Riv, Savoy and hippodrome

Oxford, Scala, Sutton Empire

Parr Dog and Haydock Picturedrome

 

I return back in the present

Is this our proud town’s fate?

Whatever happened here?

I fear we are too late.

 

I fear for what I’m seeing

What became of my old town?

Pits and factories gone

Pubs and shops shut down.

 

We shut our market down

While other markets thrive

They make a place exciting

And bring their town alive

 

Where have all the big shops gone

They are nowhere around

Where in St Helens is there

To spend more than a pound?

 

As the town entered slow decline

Went with it the local wealth

Athough the town still exists

It’s a shadow of itself.